


Free Kurt: Sue Sylvester (As Sue Sees It)

by Ravanne



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, M/M, Not Blaine or Klaine Friendly, Taking canon out behind the shed and shooting it, free kurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:01:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25804822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravanne/pseuds/Ravanne
Summary: The one where Sue Sylvester gives Kurt some tough love, Burt Hummel gets hit with a clue by four and everyone gets what they deserve.
Comments: 35
Kudos: 266
Collections: Free Kurt Challenge August 2020





	Free Kurt: Sue Sylvester (As Sue Sees It)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elle_delajoie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elle_delajoie/gifts).



> Part of the Free Kurt challeng by elle_delajoie

No one could ever argue that Sue Sylvester wasn’t a perceptive woman. Not with how she had maintained a reign of terror at McKinley High School and a record of success with her cheer team. While the rest of the sports and education programs at McKinley might be abominations that should be taken out behind the gym and shot, her team was something to be rightly proud of. The case full of trophies in her office was a testament to her brilliance and dedication.

One thing that she always prided herself on was being a good judge of character. She could immediately recognize the wheat mixed in with the chaff and could ruthlessly winnow out the winners from the losers. No one made it onto her team that couldn’t carry their own weight and benefit the squad as a whole. And those that she featured well deserved to be due to their unique talent and dedication.

She was reviewing her notes over plans for their routine for Nationals, needing to find some sort of standout moment that would cement another well-deserved victory. No other coach had both her ruthlessness and ability to think outside the box, coming up with program elements that no one could have imagined. People were still congratulating her for the absolutely genius move of featuring Porcelain years ago, letting his glorious voice take the Cheerios to another National title. It was a feat that other groups have since tried to copy, though never nearly as well and always looking like sad imitators.

The only blemish on what was turning into a decently productive afternoon was a commotion centering around Schuester’s band of misfit toys that set her instincts tingling. Nothing good ever came out of that room, save for her sweet Porcelain. She knew that he had come back to town to be with his father during a critical health check, but thankfully he would soon be safely tucked away in New York, singing his heart out every day and settling happily in the arms of a rather fetching young Englishman. Their relationship was still in its early stages, but according to all reports the older student was quite besotted with Kurt, while her Porcelain was still a little gun shy but very taken with the handsome older man. It shouldn’t take long for things to progress properly.

Of course, she’d had Kurt’s suitor thoroughly vetted once she got wind about him and was pleased to discover that he was not a spy or serial killer. He had a typical British middle-class upbringing, complete with boarding school and holidays on the continent, not to mention being a cousin (several times removed) to the Earl of Oxford. That would certainly please Porcelain, especially if that meant an invitation to Prince Harry’s wedding when he eventually tied the knot. It shouldn’t take long for Adam Crawford’s courting to have the desired effect and give her prized boy the relationship that he’d always dreamed of.

Back to business, she told herself firmly as she studied the sketch of a new cheerleading formation she’d been working on for some time and decided that she wasn’t breaking the laws of physics that severely. Having a team with the right balance of strength and flexibility was critical, she noted as she considered if her girls could actually pull off the inverted pyramid that she was envisioning. The key, of course, was to find a girl who would be able to support the formation. She might have to table this idea until next year and recruit a female weightlifter to handle the task. That was, if she could find one that didn’t look like the back end of a bulldozer.

Damn it… the noise from the choir room was disturbing her and making it difficult to concentrate and Sue was ready to storm in there to remove the scalp of whoever was making such a ruckus. She stomped out of the office, ignoring Becky’s query about where she was going and strode over to the choir room. To her surprise, for once it wasn’t Schuster trying to be the bane of her existence. The choir leader was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was Blaine Anderson holding court with his greasy-haired supporter at his side. They were yammering excitedly, working out some kind of idiotic plan and she was about to go in and start culling the already weak herd when she heard just what they were plotting.

This wasn’t just some display for their own masturbatory gratification. No, this was nothing less than a trap to pull down one who had escaped this black hole of endless suck entirely on his own grit and merit. And there was no way that she would stand for letting them drag him back down to satisfy the whims of a greedy child so selfish that he made Rachel Berry look like a paragon of altruïsm.

It wasn’t hard for her to ferret out the specifics of their plans. Brittany might be too cloyingly sweet for this world and was entirely too infatuated with Anderson’s pet idiot, but she had absolutely zero ability to keep a secret of any kind. To her, marriage was little more than the playing house she did with Fish Face. The rest of their group had no such excuses and Sue was determined to see that they all suffered for this. If they wanted to wallow in their mediocrity, who was she to deny them? But there was no way in this or any other hell that she would allow them to drag down Porcelain as well.

To be honest, she was monumentally disappointed with Kurt for even entertaining the notion of taking Anderson back and with Burt for thinking in any way that it would be a fine idea for his son get engaged to this feckless child. She was going to have a long talk with the elder Hummel when this was all resolved and pummel some sense into his bald skull if necessary. He always seemed to want the best for his son and somewhere along the way, that idea of what was best became badly skewed.

She woke up early the following morning for the long drive to Dalton Academy and browbeat the security guard into letting her in the gates, ready to drive right over him if necessary. Stopping her car in front of the main hall, she found herself gritting her teeth with the knowledge that Anderson and his band of weak-kneed sycophants were at that moment already inside, setting their trap. As much as she wanted to rush inside and send the whole lot of them running for their lives, she honestly didn’t care what they had planned. All that she needed was five minutes with Porcelain and get him to start really considering what saying yes would actually mean.

Waiting patiently for Kurt to arrive, she had the time to consider the strange bond she shared with this odd boy. The day that he’d fearlessly stepped into her office with Aretha at his side, suggesting a means to soothe her wounded ego had created something totally unexpected in both their lives. She had made Porcelain on of hers, a position that he shared with Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray. Rare students that proved that they were capable of far more than their superficial high school roles demanded of them.

She had tolerated Kurt’s relationship with the follically challenged hobbit because he had seemed to make her Porcelain happy and didn’t distract him from his goals of escaping Lima for the brightly lit stages of New York. While the loud prep school tadpole wasn’t what she would have chosen for Kurt, seeing the shadows lift from Kurt’s eyes made standing him worthwhile. At least, at first.

Things were fine while Hairy Potter was over at Hogwarts and Kurt was back where he belonged. Sue could manage matters then, as Kurt’s chief competition would be limited. There was Berry, who often was her own worst enemy and was certainly to self-destruct at some point regardless of the help that Schuster lavished upon her. She was no real threat to Kurt’s prospects. Blanderson, on the other hand, could be.

During the months that Blaine attended McKinley with Kurt, Sue had seen Kurt forgo opportunities that he well deserved in order to prop up his vertically deficient former partner. When he wouldn’t fight for something he deserved, bowing away graciously when he deserved to stand in the spotlight. Kurt had being a “team player” and “good sport” beaten into him so thoroughly that for a time, she wondered if she’d been misjudging her old protégé all along and that he didn’t have the spark that she had seen before.

But then Kurt proved his strength, running off to New York with nothing more than a suitcase and his dreams and managed to get back on track to reach his goals. Sue had watched with pride from afar as Kurt made his way to the halls of Vogue and then NYADA, surpassing whatever limitations anyone might have thought would hold him back. Even Madam Tibideaux, having recognized her mistake in not granting him admission and gave him room to grow into the star he was destined to become.

As much as she disliked Anderson and the rest of Rude Indirections, she had to credit him for his deviousness. A public proposal filled with music and spectacle at the site where he had first met Porcelain? There was a certain malevolent genius in that, knowing Hummel’s weakness for grand romantic displays. It would be all but impossible for Kurt to reject such a public request for his perfectly manicured hand without humiliating Anderson and upsetting his friends. Sue knew that if she allowed this ridiculous proposal to go forward, all of the effort she’d made to secure Porcelain’s future would be for nothing.

There was no way in hell that she was going to allow him to backslide or be held back by a partner who would happily climb over him for his own advancement. If she needed to save Kurt from himself and be the bad guy here, that was a part she was very happy to play.

Through narrowed eyes she watched saw a black Chevy SUV passed through the gates of the school, driving up to the main hall before coming to a halt. Sue felt herself smile when she saw Kurt step out, dressed in a brilliant blue suit that made him look like some sort of fabulously dressed prince. He had grown so much in the past year, well on his way to becoming the man that she had expected him to be. Handsome, strong and confident in himself. The kind who could command a stage and draw people to him with the softest spoken word.

But he didn’t look strong or proud at the moment. There was none of the excitement that she would expect to see in someone who was anticipating being proposed to by the love of his life. Kurt seemed distinctly unhappy and afraid, like a child being dragged to a dental appointment. His father came up to stand next to him, looking no less uncertain but wanting to do what he thought would be best for his son.

Pasting on her patented no-nonsense expression, she strode over to the pair. “Porcelain, what the hell are you doing here?” she demanded sharply, shocking Kurt to attention. “You’re supposed to be in New York, not slumming around this gold-plated commode.”

The harsh admonishment masked the support that Kurt very much needed and seemed to cheer him a bit. “I know, Coach,” he said sincerely, offering Sue a tentative smile. “We’re going to the airport, but there was something here that they said I was needed for.”

She looked down at him with a haughty glare. “The only thing for you here is a trap that will ensure that you never fulfill your dreams,” she warned harshly. “Is that what you want? I thought you wised up and were done with Anderson. Especially after what he did.

“And you…” She turned her fierce glare to Burt. “I would have thought better of you. Bundling your son off to get married to that bristle-haired leech who’ll suck your son dry and leave him with absolutely nothing! I’m surprised you’re not bringing your shotgun to make sure this happens.”

Burt seemed taken aback by her presence and obvious fury. It wasn’t as if they were actual friends, but they had shared a certain mutual admiration for one another. At least, as far as one thing was concerned.

Who was standing there, watching the two adults argue with wide eyes and a nearly panicked expression. Sue was ready to offer Kurt a paper bag to breathe into when Burt seemed to regather his wits and launch his own argument.

“Sue, you don’t know what you’re talking about!” he insisted. “I know that the boys had some problems between them, but Blaine wants what’s best for Kurt and loves him. He even asked me for permission to propose.”

Kurt turned to his father, a shocked look in his face. “Dad, you didn’t tell me that,” he claimed. “When did this happen?”

“Kurt, it’s okay,” Burt insisted, trying to regain control of the situation. “I told Blaine that he should wait for a bit, but it’s clear how much he loves you. I just want you to be happy.”

Kurt shook his head in bewilderment. “We weren’t even together,” he reminded his father. “Why would you do that? I’m not a package that you can just give away.”

Burt’s gaze softened in the face of his son’s obvious distress. This clearly wasn’t going the way he’d expected. “I know, Kurt,” he said, his voice softening when he realized that he obviously didn’t plan this well. “But you always seemed so happy with Blaine and miserable without him. After what’s happened to me the past few months… Listen, bud, I know that I was laying it on really thick in the car because I thought that deep down, this was what you’d really want.”

“We just barely got back together,” Kurt insisted, his voice small and hurt sounding. “I’m not even sure why we did.”

Sue then turned her anger on the younger man for doing something so monumentally stupid. “Are you out of your mind?” she demanded. “After what that little dirt ball did? Do you enjoy getting screwed around on?”

Burt looked to his son in concern, having been taken aback by that revelation. “Kurt, what is she talking about?” he asked. “You know that I don’t pry into your private business, but this sounds a lot more serious than you’ve been letting on. What’s going on here?”

“Dad, it’s okay,” Kurt insisted, trying to placate the angry papa bear that threatened to emerge. “Blaine and I talked it over. I forgave him a long time ago.”

“Forgiveness is for the weak,” Sue snapped. “Especially when it’s not deserved. May I inquire just what Anderson did to warrant forgiveness for cheating?”

Burt turned on his son, the expression on his face growing angry. “Kurt, you didn’t say anything about that. When the hell did that happen?”

Kurt’s expression wilted further, and he seemed to be folding in on himself. “Not long after I left for New York,” he admitted with obvious reluctance. His cheeks were burning red, a sharp contrast to his normally alabaster complexion.

Burt’s mouth drew down into a sharp frown. “Why didn’t you tell me any of this?” he asked gently, not wanting Kurt to feel any more cornered than he already did. “I thought you two were just having trouble doing the long-distance thing. You know that I would never brought Blaine to see you if I knew that he’d been screwing around.”

The young man looked down at his perfectly polished shoes, unable to meet their gazes. Having his father state what Blaine had done so bluntly made the hurt that he’d thought was healing feel fresh all over again. “I was handing it,” he insisted. “I was far away, and I can’t expect you to fight my battles for me. I worked through a lot of this. Blaine was really sorry.”.

Burt huffed indignantly, reaching out to grasp his son’s shoulder. “Not sorry enough to tell me the truth when I paid for that plane ticket,” he pointed out. “I want you to tell me truth now. Is this something you actually want? Or is this something you think everyone expects you to do?”

Sue looked down at Kurt, her gaze glacier cold. “And what about that young man in New York who’s waiting for you to come back?” she asked, reminding Kurt that he did have options. “All your plans for your future. Are you willing to give all that up? Because you know as well as I do that the instant you let Anderson tie you to him, you’ll never have the chance to fulfill your potential. Because he’ll always come first. He won’t let it be otherwise.”

Kurt’s gazed softened at the mention of Adam Crawford. “He’s really nice,” he admitted to Sue. “I wanted to let things move on with him. I really did.”

He turned to his father, a wistful expression on his face. “I think you’d like him, Dad,” he said. “He’s been so sweet to me the past few weeks. I really liked him.”

“Then why are you back together with Blaine?” Burt asked, clearly confused. “Kurt, I don’t get what you really want here.”

Kurt sighed, running a hand through his hair, a habit that Sue immediately pegged as an attempt to self-soothe. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I told him that I forgave him months ago, but I had no intention of getting back together with him. But he’s so insistent and I just find myself falling back into our old patterns.”

Sue wanted to swat Kurt upside his head for allowing himself to be manipulated, but she knew that trying to bait a snared animal would not get the response she desired. “Patterns are made to be broken,” she stated firmly. “Especially when you consider what kind of patterns you had with Anderson. Stepping back so he could have the spotlight. Giving up on roles so he could be the star. Putting yourself second in order to keep him happy. And the first time you didn’t bend to his needs, he showed just how much you meant to him. Is that what you want to go back to?”

Kurt shook his head, his eyes starting to glimmer with tears. “No,” he said softly.

“The unknown can be scary,” Sue granted. “You don’t know what your future might hold with your new man, or even alone. But I can assure you that it won’t involve having to wonder what happens the next time you decide that you need to take care of yourself first.”

Kurt fell silent, clearly lost in thought and Sue admitted to a sense of relief that Burt wasn’t trying to push Kurt into walking inside to where Anderson was laying in wait.

The older man pulled his son about to face him, his expression serious. “Kurt, remember what I said the day you left for New York? If you’re not scared, it means you’re not sticking your neck out enough. I want you to be honest with me here… are you back with Blaine because you love him and you really want to be with him? Of is it because he’s familiar?”

Kurt sighed, but to Sue’s relief seemed to be seriously considering his father’s question. “I had my whole life planned around being with Blaine,” he answered. “It’s hard to think about what my future will be like if he’s not a part of it.”

Sue was ready to order Kurt back into the car so that his father could get him to the airport when the door to the school building opened and Anderson stepped out in the ugliest outfit she had ever seen him wearing. And that was saying a lot, given the amount of retinal scarring she blamed on his wardrobe. Apparently he’d failed to notice that the hideous suit in mustard brown/yellow would immediately remind one of baby diarrhea. Seeing him in contrast with Kurt just reconfirmed how ill-suited (no pun intended) they really were for one another.

Blaine smiled brightly at the sight of the other young man, coming forward to greet him. “Kurt… you look amazing,” he complimented breathlessly.

Sue didn’t bother to hide a dramatic rolling of her eyes. Of course, Porcelain looked wonderful. Whereas Blaine looked like something that should be disposed of in a pooper scooper bag.

Kurt smiled tightly and Sue could practically see him committing Blaine to memory. He closed his eyes and shook his head regretfully. “I can’t do this,” he insisted. “Blaine, I’m sorry… I have to go.”

He turned to his father with a pleading expression on his face. “Can you take me to the airport? I can still catch my flight.”

Thankfully, for Kurt’s sake, Burt didn’t hesitate. “Come on, bud,” he offered, putting his arm around Kurt’s shoulders to guide him back to the car.

“Kurt!” Blaine exclaimed, hurrying over and putting himself in their path to block them. “You can’t go now!”

“I have a plane to catch,” Kurt pointed out, steeling himself. “Please… don’t make this harder.”

“But I’ve got everyone inside… they want to see you,” Blaine claimed.

Kurt shook his head in refusal. “I didn’t invite them here,” he pointed out, refusing to be manipulated. “I’ll see Rachel and Santana in New York and the ones that I stay in touch with… well, they’ll understand.”

Blaine’s expression became confused and he pleaded with Kurt to relent. “Kurt, please… don’t do this,” he urged. “I love you! This is what we always wanted.”

Kurt smiled sadly. “It was something I wanted when I was sixteen,” he acknowledged. “You asking me to marry you at the place we first met… But I want more now. I deserve more. And I can’t go back to worrying if you’re going to cheat on me the next time I can’t give you a hundred percent of my attention.

“I’m sorry… getting back together was a mistake,” he claimed with greater confidence. He offered his ex a smile that, in Sue’s judgement, was a lot kinder than the younger man deserved. “I need to decide what I really want and I can’t do that if I’m always focused on what makes you happy. I don’t want to get married now. I don’t want to be engaged. I want to finish school and start working.”

“Kurt… I love you,” Blaine insisted. “We don’t have to get married right away. Please…”

Sue held her breath, waiting for the inevitable “I love you too” in response. Instead, Kurt just answered, “Good luck with your NYADA audition.”

Seeming to have regained his confidence, Kurt turned a more assured look to his father. “Let’s get going,” he insisted. “I really don’t want to miss my flight.”

Burt nodded, pulling him toward the car. “On the way, you can tell me about this guy you’re seeing,” Burt suggested. “I need to make sure that he’s good enough for my son.”

Sue couldn’t help from smiling as she watched the SUV drive back out the gates of Dalton for what she expected to be the final time, carrying Kurt towards the future he wanted and deserved while Blaine stormed back into the building. It would be entertaining to watch him breaking the news that their grand plans would be for naught but she didn’t need that satisfaction. She’d done what she needed to do.

She knew that the odds of Kurt returning to Lima anytime in the near future were slim. And she would make sure that he had plenty to occupy himself with in New York to keep him there. While she would step in to prevent Anderson from harassing Porcelain any further, she doubted that it would be necessary. Madam Tibideaux would not stand for his antics any more than she did.

Sue Sylvester was content with her role as Goddess of Fortune, showering her favor on the few who’d deserved it. Whether it was ensuring that Quinn gained acceptance to Yale, Santana launching a music career in a New York piano bar or her lovely Porcelain finding a partner capable of keeping up with him, she would do what needed to be done.

On the drive back to Lima, she savored her success. And it was delicious.


End file.
